Excerpt from In Memory of Arthur William Soper, 1838-1901

Mr. Soper was a firm believer in the efficiency of compressed air as a motive power for street railways, and his influence and his encouragement were all powerful in pushing air cars to their present state of perfedtion and in bringing them into favorable notice against the opposition of powerful competing interests. Not only in this country, but also abroad, was his ability known and appreciated, and in some of the highest industrial circles of the old world his name was honored as a man of affairs.

And yet this man, with the world before him, successful, and honestly and deservedly successful, with acquaintances and interests that naturally would attradt one away from the scenes of his childhood, was proof against attraetion of that sort. As he broadened out in life, as his affairs grew rapidly in scope, as his duties multiplied, and he became a very busy man, his love for the community where he was born grew with equal pace. In the myriad of things that came before him for disposition, in the multi tude of intricate business problems he was called upon to solve, he attacked none with greater pleasure and more hearty desire for success than somethingthat would benefit or advance the city of Rome or the welfare of the warm friends he had here. It is a touching thing indeed the patriotism and loyalty of this industrial leader to the town where he once lived and to the people of it. No circumstance could better illustrate the largeness of his heart, unless it was the fast that in all his efforts for the betterment of Rome, and the surrounding community, it never seemed to occur to him that he was doing anything unusual. He enjoyed it sincerely, and no resident citizen could exceed the gratification he felt at some material local benefit. It would surprise a great many to know how often and how generously he contributed to worthy causes here, for, by his wish only the immediate ben eficiaries ever heard of many of the evidences of his liberality. It is eminently fitting that his last earthly resting place will be in the Rome Cemetery, where his choice designated it.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.